Posted on 02/28/2008 6:13:53 PM PST by bjs1779
The price of oil shot to a new high last night as Wall Street traders bought fuel contracts to offset the falling value of the dollar.
Energy traders were also unnerved by a fire at Shell’s Bacton gas terminal in Norfolk, which threatened more than 45 million cubic metres of gas supplies, about 13 per cent of National Grid’s forecast demand. The blaze – which started at 6pm – was extinguished. National Grid sought to reassure markets that the facility, the third-largest in the UK, was still receiving adequate supplies.
Light sweet crude oil for April delivery rose $2.95 to $102.59 a barrel in New York. Even after the market had closed, in after-hours trading, sweet crude continued to rise to $102.97. However, taking inflation into account, the price of oil is still lower than the record set in 1980, which by some calculations hit $104 a barrel.
Yesterday the price surged after US growth data showed that the world’s largest economy had expanded by just 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter. While a slowing economy usually hits demand for oil, traders appeared to be buying sweet crude contracts as a hedge or as a means of offsetting the weakness of the dollar.
(Excerpt) Read more at business.timesonline.co.uk ...
I’m more impressed with the run up in Natural Gas.
http://futuresource.quote.com/charts/charts.jsp?s=NG%20J8
Natural gas has hit this level about three times in recent years. The first time California had rolling blackouts and Enron went down. This time nobody seems to care.
I trade nat gas for a living...
Natural gas getting nicked today.
Interesting how NYMEX crude oil is down so much today and gold is maybe up a little. The FR theory that crude price is somehow related to gold price, which is to say to the falling dollar doesn’t seem to be working in detail today.
My nat gas position is up $3 million today.
Looks like 119.66
Gasoline 3 cents off its high of a couple weeks ago.
NYMEX crude index 120.00 now and this time it’s real, not like last time when it was the last moments of life of an expiring option and $2 higher than market.
But wait, I thought the commodities bull was over?
:)
Exactly correct. It was.
122.23
New bull. Nothing like old anemic bull.
The commodities bull market is over. Again. Looking at crude at 125 again, from above, but back to reality.
Yeah, here we go again, maybe oil will fall all the way to the 40 day moving average this time...
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